


Come with Me

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: McHanzo [11]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Choices, Falling In Love, Hope, M/M, Romance, Running Away, Secret Relationship, Secrets, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-17 05:31:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16510268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: They're already risking everything just by being together, running away would bring the wrath of the Shimada clan crashing down on them... but some things are worth the risk, and for Hanzo, Jesse is one of those things.





	Come with Me

****

   Hanzo was careful to keep his pace slow and even as he walked through the compound, the walk of somewhere who knew where they were going and had the right to go where he wanted. _Within reason,_ he thought bitterly, feeling the eyes tracking his movement and acknowledging the guards as he passed with the small, regal tilt of his head that had been drilled into his head years ago. He barely glanced at them, and yet he could still see the fear and respect in their eyes as they nodded or bowed in return, and he hated it. There had been a time when he had enjoyed seeing those emotions and knowing that all he had to do was acknowledge them, or maybe not enjoyed but at least he hadn’t minded it, it had just been part of his life, part of his heritage and in the grand scheme of things it had seemed unimportant.

    However, recently he had come to realise just how empty the gesture was, how empty the respect was. These men didn’t really know him, they knew his name, his power and feared and respected that, but they didn’t know Hanzo. They didn’t know the man who would rather spend his time reading or practicing archery, than learning to shoot or cut a man down with his sword. And he didn’t know them. He could probably only name a handful of them, and even then, it was just that…names…he couldn’t stand there and have a conversation with them, ask them about their families and interests, because he simply didn’t know, and he hated it.

   There was one familiar face amongst the guards, and a small smile tugged at his lips as he found Tashiro standing guard outside the small garden he had laid claim to in the far side of the compound, one of the few concessions he had ever managed to wrangle from his father. Tashiro had been his tutor when he was younger and even now they remained close, the old retainer one of the few to see beyond the Shimada mask and to care about what happened to his former charge for more than his bloodline, and that was why Tashiro was the only one who knew his secret, who knew about the man he was about to meet.

“He’s waiting for you.” It’s barely a whisper of sound, the most they can allow themselves even though no one is close enough to hear.

“Thank you,” Hanzo murmurs, and they both know that it’s for more than this and the older man sighs, resting his hand briefly on Hanzo’s shoulder. It’s a liberty no other guard would ever take with him, and Hanzo reaches up to lay his hand on top of it for a second, expression softening before he nods and steps past and into the garden, safe in the knowledge that no one else will gain access without a fight.

   His heart speeds up when he spots the familiar figure already sprawled beneath the Sakura tree that dominates the centre of the garden, and for a moment he pauses just to study him. Jesse McCree is everything that Hanzo had been taught to be wary of, a westerner with no sense of refinement, a flirt with no awareness of his place in this world, rough and uncouth. Yet at the same time he had also become the most important person in his life, wiggling his way through the rules and honour and masks, until Hanzo was left feeling completely bare beneath his adoring gaze. A gaze that is now locked on him, the younger man having detected his arrival and sitting up with a warm grin that does nothing for Hanzo’s heart rate or composure, and there is no stopping the answering smile that creeps across his face.

“McCree…” It had taken him a while to get used to the strange name, but now it is warm and familiar on the end of his tongue, however, he catches the flicker of disappointment in tawny eyes and his smile grows as he corrects himself. “Jesse.” The lack of formality is strange to him, even with how far their relationship has come, but it’s worth it for the way that the Jesse lights up.

“You’re late,” Jesse drawls as he approaches, but there’s a hint of concern beneath the teasing that tells Hanzo he was worried. After all, as lackadaisical as McCree appears most of the time, they’re both intensely aware that they are playing with fire with this relationship of theirs and considering the security around here they’re likely to get burnt sooner or later. Hanzo’s expression softens and he quickly closes the distance between them, allowing the younger man to pull him down beside him and into a tight hug.

“Sorry,” he murmurs, no longer hesitating to reach up and meet McCree halfway, melting into the gentle kiss that follows. “Genji was trying to follow me so I had to distract him.” He hated lying to his brother more than anyone else, but it was as much for Genji’s protection as theirs. If his brother didn’t know anything then he couldn’t be blamed for anything that happened, still he couldn’t help but frown, hating the need for secrecy but knowing that being discovered would be much worse.

   There was a hint of sadness in Jesse’s expression when he pulls back from the kiss, and he knows without a word that the younger man is blaming himself, not something he is willing to allow, and he reaches up to stroke Jesse’s cheek with a sigh and a sad smile. “It is what it is Jesse, but I would rather have the secrecy than not have this…” He lets his hand fall, coming to rest next to Jesse’s and the other man takes the hint, twining their fingers together and pulling him closer.

“I know…but…”

“What is it?” He knows Jesse well enough by now to know that something more is going out, that something else is wrong, and his smile dims when he realises that Jesse is frowning, his eyes shadowed in a way they’ve never been in all the time that Hanzo’s known him and he feels a prickle of unease.

“Jesse…?”

“I’m going to be leaving soon,” McCree confessed softly, feeling how Hanzo immediately tenses in his arms and he hastily tightens his grip, holding him in place as he tried to explain. As he tried to reassure his lover that it wasn’t his choice, unable to keep the desperation and anger out of his voice, but somehow managing to keep his voice low, knowing they can’t afford to attract unwelcome attention right now.  “I tried to talk my bosses into leaving me here a little longer, but it was no use, I might as well have been talking to a wall.” If he was being honest with himself he had always known that his words were going to fall on deaf ears, his place was back in America, and he was lucky that he had been allowed to stay in Japan as long as he had. Especially after he’d got caught up in a fight a couple of weeks ago, one that had nearly spiralled into much more and yet he’d had to try and convince them. It had only been the crushing dismay that he’d felt afterwards that told him that he’d dared to let himself hope, a fool’s hope he knew now.

_A fool in love…_

“I see.” Hanzo whispered, too stunned to feel anything right now. Rationally he had known that this moment was going to come from the moment this relationship had started, but he hadn’t let himself focus on it, and now that the moment was approaching he had no idea what he was supposed to do or how he was supposed to react. _Jesse is leaving?_

    There was a moment of silence, tense and unpleasant, unlike the warm, easy ones that usually fell between them when the shorter man had exhausted his words for the day, and when he finally tried to extricate himself from McCree’s arms the other man let him, watching with pained eyes as he rose to his feet and moved a short distance away. “I see…” He repeated, sounding as though he was trying to convince himself that he understood…and failing…and McCree couldn’t just sit there and listen to the broken tone.

“Darling,” McCree pleaded desperately, rising to his feet and lunging forward so that he could catch Hanzo’s hand, twining their fingers together once more, relieved when he met no resistance although he could feel the tension radiating from Hanzo. “Sweetheart.” Dark eyes glanced at him, narrowed, pained and yet there was something softer in their depths which gave Jesse the courage to voice the plea that had been building for weeks. “Come with me.”

“What?”

“Come back to America with me,” McCree replied, his voice steadier this time, because this might be his only chance to convince the other man and he couldn’t blow it. “This…” He gestured between them with his free hand, fingers trembling. He didn’t even know what name to put to the feelings that had developed between them, the relationship he had never expected to find in this place, but he knew that he didn’t want to lose it. “I don’t want it to end in this little garden of ours, so come with me.”

“I…” At any other time, the fact that he had managed to make the dark eyes widen in shock and left his lover unable to speak would have reduced him to grinning triumphantly, now though it left him with a strange empty feeling and he realised that he had been hoping for an instant reply. He had been hoping that this…relationship…fling…whatever it was, meant as much to the other man as it meant to him. “I…” Hanzo took a deep breath, and then for the first time in weeks the shutters came down as a calm mask slid back into place, and he shook his head slightly. “My place is here, there is no way that I would be allowed to leave.”

“I’m not asking if you have permission, I already know the answer to that,” McCree points out, not bothering to hide his distaste for the way the Shimada clan treats Hanzo, but his hand is gentle as he reaches up to cup Hanzo’s cheek, tracing soft skin with a calloused thumb. “I’m asking what you want to do. I’m asking if Hanzo, not Hanzo Shimada will come to America with me.”

   Hanzo knows that he should stop this, that if he agrees to this madness, if he leaves, if he abandons his family, his duty, then the wrath of the Shimada clan will follow them wherever they go. He’s seen enough to know just how bad that could be, to know what could happen to him, to Jesse, to them. He knows what they could do, what they will do if they find them, and yet… Jesse’s hand is warm against his cheek, fingers steady and the tawny eyes are bright with hope, with a level of devotion that Hanzo had only ever dreamed of experiencing. The younger man isn’t an idiot, he knows what he’s asking, what the cost will be if they’re caught, but he’s not letting him hold him back or letting it silence him, and for the first time in years Hanzo does the same.

“Y-yes,” his voice wavers, and there is a suspicious stinging sensation in his eyes as he presses against Jesse, burying his face in the other’s chest, hands tightening against his back. _What am I doing?_ The thought tries to slip in, but he hastily pushes it away because he doesn’t want to lose his courage, not now. Not when Jesse is pulling him closer, letting him hear just how rapidly his heart is beating. Not when freedom, and the future he had scarcely let himself dream about feels as though it’s actually within reach.

“Yes?” Jesse doesn’t sound much better and somehow that helps, giving Hanzo the courage to nod, a noise that is half sob, half giddy laugh bubbling up when he feels Jesse suddenly peppering the top of his head with excited kisses, and he can’t remain hidden in the face of such exuberance. Suddenly shy he slowly lifts his head, breath catching at the sheer happiness on Jesse’s face and it hits him hard that he’s the reason for that expression. That he was the one to make Jesse that happy, and he can’t stop the tears that manage to escape, immediately leading to a dimming of that happy smile. “Hanzo…are you okay?”

“I’m…” Hanzo hesitates for a moment, leaning into the fingers that are now brushing the tears off his cheek, before taking a deep breath. “I’m happy…” The words creep out, as though he’s afraid that saying them aloud will make reality come crashing down on them and he feels Jesse tense as though he’s waiting for the same thing. But nothing happens, the quiet of the garden finally punctuated by Jesse’s soft laughter a moment later, and Hanzo can’t help but join in.

“Hanzo,” Jesse’s voice is soft, mirth still dancing in his eyes as he brings their joined hands up to press a kiss to Hanzo’s knuckles before leaning in to capture his lips. “I love you…” It’s not the first time he’s said the words, but before they’ve been whispered, hesitant and for his ears alone. This time Jesse’s voice is louder, not enough to draw attention, but enough to tell Hanzo that the other man is imagining that he is telling the whole world and his eyes soften as he leans up to steal another kiss.

“I love you too.”


End file.
